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There are two types of MiniDVDs.

• 80 mm DVD, which are smaller versions of the 120 mm DVD
• cDVD, which are standard CDs written with the DVD-Video format

The name is also sometimes used erroneously to refer to the Universal Media Disc (UMD), the format used by Sony's PlayStation Portable.

MiniDVD (Mini DVD or miniDVD) is an 80 mm diameter disc. In normal recording (standard DVD quality), it holds 30 minutes of video or 1.4 GB of data. Under SLP mode, comparable to VHS quality, it can hold 120 minutes of video. It was developed for use in camcorders, but unlike its full-sized 120 mm counterpart, it cannot be played back in most DVD players.

The format is also known as a video-single, or DVD single, being analogous to the CD single (miniCD) in being a singles format for music videos.

MiniDVDs (80 mm) are known also as "3 inch DVDs," referring to their approximate diameter in inches.

Mini DVD-R/-RW media are available and are marketed for use in some newer, DVD-based camcorders that record directly to the 80 mm DVD disc. Typically, these cameras offer three quality settings in varying bitrates: XP (20 minutes), SP (30 minutes), and LP (60 minutes).

Single Sided Dual Layer DVD+R and DVD-R forms of this media are now available. Released in Q2 of 2006^[1] they boast 2.66 GB of data storage and hold up to 55 mins of continuous, Standard Definition video with recording speeds on a par with DVD-9 DL discs.

Although working out at around £1 (US$2) per gigabyte, they are aimed at the Camcorder market where they will nearly double the length of recording time but are also compatible with DVD players and drives that support dual layer media.

Physical size	Single layer capacity	Dual/Double layer capacity
12 cm, single sided	4.7 GB	8.5 GB
12 cm, double sided	9.4 GB	17 GB
8 cm, single sided	1.4 GB	2.66 GB
8 cm, double sided	2.8 GB	5.2 GB

Nintendo used a disc-based format for their GameCube system, which was a variant of an 80 mm DVD.

Mini DVD is also the brand name of a line of commercial DVDs and players released by Warner and CyberHome and intended for a young audience.^[2]

mini-DVD or cDVD is also used to describe a CD that contains DVD-Video data, allowing all the features of the DVD-Video format to be used on the cheaper medium. The difference between them is the physical disc itself. However, these CDs can only be played on computers or some standalone DVD players, not VCD players, and have only a fraction of the capacity of a DVD. Additionally, mini-DVDs must be written to CD using the Mode 1 format. This limits the amount of data that can be stored on an 80 minute CD to 700 MiB, whereas other CD-based video formats such as SVCD use the Mode 2/XA format and can store roughly 800 MiB of data per 80 minute CD.

12cm DVD-RAM disc (left) compared to 8cm MiniDVD-RAM disc (right).

• DVD
• Laserdisc
• Video CD (VCD)
• CD Video
• SVCD
• VideoNow
• Nintendo optical discs
• Universal Media Disc (UMD)

• miniDVD definition on AfterDawn.com

v • d • e Industrial & home video media
Magnetic tape	Analog VERA (1952) • 2 inch Quadruplex videotape (1956) • 1 inch type A videotape (1965) • 1/4 inch Akai (1967) • U-matic (1969) • Cartrivision (1972) • Video Cassette Recording (aka VCR) (1972) • V-Cord (1974) • VX (aka "The Great Time Machine") (1974) • Betamax (1975) • IVC 2 inch Helical scan (1975) - 1 inch type B videotape (1976) • 1 inch type C videotape (1976) • VHS (1976) • VK (1977) • SVR (1979) • Video 2000 (1980) • CVC (1980) • VHS-C (1982) • M (1982) • Betacam (1982) • Video8 (1985) • MII (1986) • S-VHS (1987) • Hi8 (1989) • S-VHS-C (1987) • W-VHS (1994) Digital D1 (1986) • D2 (1988) • D3 (1991) • D5 (1994) • Digital Betacam (1993) • DV (1995) • Digital-S (D9) (1995) • DVCPRO (1995) • DVCAM (1996) • HDCAM (1997) • DVCPRO50 (1998) • D-VHS (1998) • Digital8 (1999) • DVCPRO HD (2000) • D6 HDTV VTR (2000) • MicroMV (2001) • HDV (2003)• HDCAM SR (2003)
Optical disc	Analog Laserdisc (1978) • Laserfilm (1984) • CD Video (1986?) Digital VCD (1993) • MovieCD (1995?) • DVD-Video (1995) • MiniDVD • CVD (1998) • SVCD (1998) • FMD (2000) • EVD (2003) • HVD (2004) • FVD (2005) • UMD (2005) • VMD (2006) • HD DVD (2006) • Blu-ray Disc (BD) (2006) • DMD (2006?) • AVCHD (2006) • Tapestry Media (2007) • Total Hi Def (2008) • HVD (TBA) • PH-DVD (TBA) • SVOD (TBA) • Protein-coated disc (TBA) 3D disc (TBA)
Grooved Videodiscs	Analog Baird Television Record aka Phonovision (1927) • TeD (1974) • Capacitance Electronic Disc aka CED (1981) • VHD (1983)